Day 20 - Plyometrics

I still hate this routine. It is hard and it sucks. I will say that I may never attempt the plyo workout in the morning ever again.

My chest and shoulders are sore from yesterday's workout. They are more sore than the previous chest or shoulder routine days. I guess there is something to this muscle confusion concept they push on us. Oh, and my hip muscles are absolutely destroyed from that Ab Ripper X routine.

On a positive note, I may not be even close to great physical condition at this point, but I feel like a monster after suffering through some of these workouts. That's a very good feeling.

Day 19 - Chest, Shoulders, & Triceps (Ab-Ripper X)

This is a new workout and it was actually pretty cool. I like the new exercises because they are different and challenging. Bonus points for being able to take my time with the new workout in the morning since I was snowed in here in Alexandria, VA. There is no 'Back' in the workout title which means I didn't have to do a single pull-up in this workout. That's just fine by me!

I'm beginning to feel generally bad and tired when I don't workout these days, and I feel great and energetic on the days I do workout. I guess I'm doing something right.

I will note that I skipped the one-arm push-ups, because those are just ridiculous. I was able to do more reps this time around with the Ab-Ripper X, but I'm still no where near close to the 339 reps they do on the DVD. I venture I get around 220 reps at this point. Hey, getting stronger each time so no worries there.

Day 18 - Kenpo X

Same as all the other times. Lots of kicks, lots of punches. Felt good to sweat after essentially taking four days off in a row.

I was supposed to do a recovery week featuring a new workout called Core Synergistics. This was to be mixed in with the typical cardio days such as Kenpo and Plyometrics. Four days off in a row? We'll call that the recovery week.

Day 17 - Legs & Back (Ab Ripper-X)

Man, this workout is hard. My right glute (fine, butt cheek) is borderline tweaked after this workout which is resulting in a limp -- not the cool pimp strut, rather more like the old man walk.

Legs are getting stronger for sure, but my right leg is definitely weaker than the left. I may have to start doing more reps/weight on the right side to try and even them out. I don't know if that would even work. I continue to do my pull-ups and chin-ups with the chair help.

I went back and looked at the P90X exercise guide to see what this upcoming week would bring. See, you spend 3 weeks in what P90X calls the 'Adaptive & Mastery' Phase, then the fourth week is spent in the Recovery Phase. P90X is thus broken down into three different overall phases which last 30 days each (3 phases x 30 days = P90X). The whole muscle confusion aspect of P90X is that every month you switch up the workouts so that you get more bang for your buck, so to speak.

Anyways, I digress. What I discovered is that on the days featuring resistance workouts such as Chest & Back, Shoulders & Arms, and Back & Legs you are supposed to be doing this supplemental 15 minute routine called Ab Ripper-X. This seems like a pretty egregious error, but once I got through the first week I just repeated that same routine for the following weeks. Honest mistake, really.

I 'did' Ab Ripper-X today as best I could. This is 15 minutes of brutal stomach and lower back exercise. I'm clearly pathetic at this routine but it was my first time. I'll do it from now on when it's called for, but damn. Now the shortest workout is 75 minutes!

Day 16 - Yoga

Yoga is awesome. My balance and flexibility are really improving. I will say that this session of Yoga was harder than previous iterations because I was able to hold the poses longer or do them with better form (as my wife has pointed out).

I need to get a yoga block because I keep using my son's Lego box which feels like it's about to collapse under the incredible girth that is me. Yoga blocks/bricks are just small foam or cork blocks you use to help balance yourself when you can't reach the floor in some of those ultra tough positions.

Still surprised how much you sweat from doing this. I'm going to look into taking a real yoga class. I totally dig this stuff now.

Day 15 - Shoulders & Arms

Did this workout at the gym on Friday which has two full sets of dumbbells. Dumbbells are absolutely crucial for this workout. I think because of the relative small size of the deltoids, biceps, and triceps you really get that burn after all those repetitions. Also, working out with the ipod was pretty sweet. This is the first P90X routine I did without the DVDs. I was surprised that I remembered all the exercises from the DVD.

Saturday morning I woke up tight across the shoulders and my biceps were sore. Good times.

Day 14 - Plyometrics

I am a badass. I woke up at 7am and did the plyo workout without eating. Yes, I almost passed out and barfed a few times. However, it's 11am right now and I don't have to work out tonight.

Allow me to quote someone who watched me do plyo from under a woolly blanket splayed out across a couch: "That doesn't look that hard."

I'll leave it at that.

Day 13 - Chest & Back

Stopped by Sports Authority on the way home to my second home, Paul's place. I needed to buy another pull-up bar, because frankly, the resistance bands are crap. Unusable. I picked up some dumbbells too because some of the arms and shoulder workouts are best done with free weights, and not crappy, new-age resistance bands.

I have the Iron Gym pull-up bar at home, but I bought the EXTREME version today for $10 more. Here's what it looks like:

Only major difference is that the EXTREME version has a wider grip, but it was totally worth it. It was hilarious for Paul to watch me struggle to put it together wrong, then disassemble, then put it back together correctly. And by hilarious, I mean infuriating for me. See, Paul was eating his dinner and watching TV as my blood sugar was plummeting and I was struggling to assemble the EXTREME iron gym.

So it's 7:30 PM by the time I finished the pull-up bar construction and popped the DVD into the player. Sometimes I wish I never started this program. There is no such thing as half-assing these workouts. As they say in the DVDs, you have to bring it. It's really difficult to will yourself through the chest/back routine when you're tired and hungry. Never working out this late at night again.

So I struggled through the workout as I normally do, but this time I had an audience. At first there was heckling, but by the end there was more rooting than heckling. The heckling was totally anticipated.

After the workout I felt nauseous and light headed. Ugh, that's a terrible feeling. Can't wait to be sore all over tomorrow at work.

Day 12 - Legs (& Back?)

Legs == annihilated. Already. Every time I think I'm going to be awesome at these routines I end up struggling half way through. I need to get that $30 Iron Gym pull-up bar for up here in VA. I gave the bands a shot, but it was futile. Plus, nothing is as demoralizing as struggling to do even one pull-up.

Basically today was just a legs workout, but I didn't have to pause the DVD even once. It's also incredibly clear that my left leg is stronger than my right leg.

On another note, the P90X recovery drink is something you're supposed to drink within an hour of working out. It tastes like an Orange Julius shake I remember drinking as a kid. I'll report back on whether or not this stuff works.

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Normally, I post about P90X, but this had to be posted for 'the readers'.

Day 11 - Kenpo X

After yesterday's success at the gym, I got back on the bus and did an hour of kenpo-x today with my wife. As I've described before, you simply punch and kick your way through the hour. And you sweat a whole lot.

Feels good to be back in the rhythm of working out.

Been Sick, Persevered Today

I showed up to work this Monday only to find this piece of paper posted where my fellow developers and I sit. Clearly, this paper is a printout of this here blog. Some of you may or may not be familiar with the holiday, Festivus, made famous by the TV show, Seinfeld. From the wiki:

"Also, after the Festivus meal, the "Feats of Strength" are performed, involving wrestling the head of the household to the floor, with the holiday ending only if the head of the household is actually pinned."

I admit this is clever, however, I've been coughing up a lung all week and unable to perform the P90X routines. This has not gone over well the co-workers. I believe there may even be a pool to determine when or if I quit the program.

Well, I went to the gym today and did 35 minutes of fairly intense cardio. I noticed that I am getting in much better cardiovascular shape because the elliptical machine was my bitch today. Sweating felt good, coughing did not. I plan to sleep a lot tonight and rock the P90X tomorrow.

Day 10 - Shoulders & Arms

Eh, I skipped two days of exercising, but I had valid reasons. Two days ago I was stressed and lazy, so logically I drank alcohol. Yesterday, New Year's Eve, Jack was one sick puppy -- coughing so hard he threw up twice. On or near me. I still cannot believe I survived yesterday's barf-o-rama ala Stand By Me. We ended up taking him to the doctor, but I couldn't eat anything after the morning's events. So after the doctor it was time to get some food.

This brings me to the subject of cheat meals. I have found mine. The Double Quarter Pounder from McDonald's is the ultimate hangover killer. I learned this from Gary the last time I visited him in Colorado. It may kill a hangover, but check out the nutritional info in that link -- 734 calories for one sandwich!

Alright, on to the exercising, the supposed focus of this blog. I think I finally got the hang of the resistance bands for some of the shoulder press exercises. I'd still much prefer to have some dumbbells, but cost is the overriding concern at the moment. A good set of dumbbells is ~$500 if you can believe that. That purchase isn't happening as I just bought a Canon HD camcorder so I can begin filming more of my family.

If you're lucky, I may even record myself doing some of the ridiculous Kenpo routines. I'm sure that would be hilarious for everyone but me.